The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 155 - 154

Chapter 154

“Cough, cough. Can you promise me you will convey this to your elder sister?” Elder Mu Furen asked, her voice half pleading while sipping warm water to ease her cough.

Mu Yingying lowered her eyes slightly to hide the cold glint within them. “Yes, Grandmother. I will tell my elder sister.”

She promised to tell her but not to follow through with it...

“With that, I can rest easy,”

Elder Mu Furen sighed in relief, as if a great boulder, weighing on her heart for the past few days, had vanished completely. With her worries voiced, her weary face seemed to improve slightly. Seeing this, Mu Yingying seized the opportunity to ask about her mother.

“Grandmother, can you tell me about my mother’s background?”

Elder Mu Furen’s body stiffened momentarily, a flicker of unease passing through her eyes, but Mu Yingying noticed it instantly. Given her grandmother’s suspicious behavior, she realized that there was more to this story than it seemed.

“Wh...why do you want to know?”

Elder Mu Furen asked softly, trying to maintain her usual calm demeanor, though her heart pounded erratically.

“I just want to know about my mother. Is there something inappropriate about that?” Mu Yingying asked, feigning innocence to test her grandmother’s suspicious behavior further.

“It’s not that it’s inappropriate, but there’s no need to ask about your mother’s background. What’s important is that she was your mother, after all,” Elder Mu Furen tried to avoid the subject, persuading her granddaughter not to pursue it.

Mu Yingying narrowed her eyes slightly at the woman before her. The hidden meaning in her grandmother’s words and the brief flash of fear in her eyes Made Mu Yingying realized immediately that her grandmother was hiding something from them, and that concealed matter was greatly dangerous. Otherwise, her grandmother wouldn’t show such subconscious fear.

It seemed her grandmother wouldn’t easily reveal her mother’s background. She would have to use a more cunning approach to get the truth...

“Grandmother, actually, I overheard Eldest Brother talking with Elder Sister a few days ago. They mentioned an assassin breaking into Eldest Brother’s quarters. The assassin said something about the Qin family. Out of curiosity and fear, I came to ask you about it...I’m really scared and don’t know what’s going on,”

Mu Yingying said, her voice trembling. Her small face showed genuine fear, like someone who had just experienced a traumatic event, with tears welling up in her big, round eyes, making her look pitiful. Her body trembled, revealing her true anxiety.

Hearing this, Elder Mu Furen’s eyes widened in panic, her body turning cold to the bone. Memories long buried resurfaced.

“Is it true!? Was your elder brother really attacked by an assassin?”

“Yes, it seemed to involve the Qin family,” Mu Yingying nodded quickly, her lips quivering as if about to cry.

“It’s alright, my dear. You must have been very scared. Come here,” Elder Mu Furen quickly pulled her granddaughter into a comforting embrace. Her face now displayed a seriousness she had never shown before.

Mu Yingying nestled herself in her grandmother’s embrace, her body trembling slightly from her sobs. Outwardly, she seemed frightened and distressed, but hidden from view, her face that was resting on her grandmother’s shoulder briefly showed a cunning smile.

“Sigh...I guess I can’t keep this a secret any longer,”

Elder Mu Furen murmured to herself; her voice barely audible. She then decided to reveal the truth of the past to her granddaughter. “Alright, I will tell you about your mother’s background.”

“Your mother came from the Qin family. In the past, I happened upon the Qin family and helped them once. To repay me, they offered their daughter to marry into our family. Initially, I didn’t want to accept, as I considered it a minor favor and because the Qin family had a mysterious background. They appeared suddenly in Qingyun City. However, the Qin family pleaded with me to accept their daughter and change her surname to Mu. I took a liking to the girl and felt a connection with her, so I agreed to let her marry into the family.”

“The young miss from the Qin family was your mother, Qin Wuyue. After marrying in, she took the surname Mu and became Mu Wuyue. Very few people knew that her original surname was Qin. I still remember when I first met your mother; she was extraordinarily beautiful and graceful. Her manners were impeccable, surpassing even the young misses of the prominent families I’ve known. Despite claiming to be a family of scholars, the Qin family carried themselves with a nobility far beyond that of ordinary scholars.”

“Besides, at that time, the Qin family’s origins were indeed mysterious. They appeared in Qingyun City out of nowhere, with wealth surpassing even the city governor at that time. However, not long after your mother married into our family, the Qin family vanished without a trace. Since then, I have never encountered anyone from the Qin family again...”

Elder Mu Furen recounted in detail, omitting the events of the night Qin Wuyue died, intending to keep it secret from her granddaughter for now. After all, Ying’er was only eleven years old; it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to learn about such dangerous matters.

Hearing her mother’s background story, Mu Yingying felt that the pieces were falling into place. The mysterious Qin family appeared suddenly in Qingyun City, and then disappeared without a trace.

Didn’t that seem like they were fleeing from something?

From her grandmother’s description of the Qin family and her mother, she believed that no ordinary person would have such a graceful and dignified demeanor if they hadn’t been well-trained. She had seen her mother’s paintings and writings in her eldest brother’s room, the skill of which surpassed even that of master artisans.

Such proficiency couldn’t come from an ordinary scholarly family...

She suspected that her mother’s Qin family was connected to the Qin family in the Daliang Region!

Mu Yingying bit her lip unconsciously, her big, round eyes briefly reflecting a solemn determination before returning to normal. “Then...What about the assassin, Grandmother?”

“I will write a letter to your eldest brother about it. Ying’er, you’re still too young. Knowing this much is enough,” Elder Mu Furen said with a smile, refusing to divulge any more. Mu Yingying had no choice but to relent.

“As you see fit, Grandmother. I will take the letter to my eldest brother myself,” Mu Yingying agreed readily, appearing obedient and compliant, which relieved Elder Mu Furen who was afraid that her granddaughter would stubbornly ask further.

“Then, Ying’er, go play outside for a while. I will write the letter now.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

Mu Yingying responded cheerfully and went outside to wait. After waiting for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Su Ming came out holding a letter. “This is the letter from the Elder Furen to the Eldest Young Master, Miss.”

“How is my grandmother now?” Mu Yingying asked as she took the letter and tucked it into her sleeve.

“The Elder Furen must be tired. She’s already asleep. Once she wakes up, I’ll let her know that Seventh Young Miss has left,” Su Ming said politely, her smile filled with sincerity and affection.

“Thank you,”

Mu Yingying bid farewell and returned to the residence immediately. While in the carriage, she opened an envelope and began to read. Upon seeing the contents, her eyes constricted before a chilling gleam emerged.

The letter stated that on the night of Qin Wuyue’s death, it wasn’t a heart attack but a tragic murder!

Their grandmother had accidentally witnessed a man in black force-feed Qin Wuyue with a substance that she couldn’t resist before she eventually died. However, because at that time, their grandmother was threatened by the man in black. To protect the Mu family from death, she kept silent and let Qin Wuyue’s death be seen as an accident.

Their grandmother apologized and expressed her regret and remorse over this matter. At the end of the letter, she warned Mu Gongzhen about this man in black, fearing that the emergence of an assassin might be related to their mother’s Qin family, cautioning them to be vigilant...

Mu Yingying’s hand, holding the letter, trembled uncontrollably, and her face changed colors repeatedly. Although she had few memories of her mother, knowing the truth that her mother was murdered caused her heart to ache as if an invisible hand were squeezing it. She didn’t know if it was the blood ties that made her feel this pain.

Had her mother not been murdered, she might have had her mother by her side as she grew up.

Mu Yingying’s eyes reflected sadness for a moment, and her hand clenched the letter tightly, crumpling the smooth paper into something akin to trash. She never thought that her grandmother had kept such a shocking secret all this time!

Upon learning this truth, even someone like her, with the least attachment to her mother, was shocked and deeply pained. What if her eldest brother and eldest sister, who were more connected to their mother, found out about this...?

Wouldn’t their hearts be shattered?

After returning to the Zhuiping Residence, Mu Yingying stayed inside her quarters the whole time, trying to compose herself and think about how to tell her siblings the truth, finding a way to lessen their pain when they learned about it, especially for her eldest brother, since Mu Gongzhen spent the most time with their mother. During that time, their mother was the only one who provided him warmth throughout his stay in the Mu family in Qingyun City. After their mother passed away, Mu Gongzhen changed, showing the profound impact of their mother’s death on him.

However, no matter how hard Mu Yingying tried to think, she couldn’t find a way. Her mind was a complete mess.

The fact that her mother was murdered a decade ago reaffirmed that they had been under the watchful eyes of enemies from the Daliang Region. While she was busy dealing with surrounding enemies, she didn’t realize she had been like a chick in the hands of someone else for a long time. If they wanted to take action against them, it wouldn’t be difficult at all.

The more Mu Yingying thought, the colder she felt to her very core. She was quite certain that her mother belonged to the Qin family from the Daliang Region, and that she and her two siblings were of the Qin bloodline as well. The imperial decree that their enemies were desperately searching for must have been with her mother. If it were with another member of the Qin family, they wouldn’t have turned their attention to them like this. But after her mother passed away, even they didn’t know where the item was.

If the enemy couldn’t find it, they would never stop hunting them down!

Damn it!

Mu Yingying looked up at the ceiling in frustration. Her mind was racing with thoughts. She closed her eyes to calm herself. Thinking too much now wouldn’t help; she needed to plan and handle things step by step.

As Mu Yingying closed her eyes, a figure dressed in black appeared, kneeling before her and reporting, “Miss, our men have extracted information from the woman we captured.”

“So soon?”

Mu Yingying opened her eyes in surprise. They had only just captured the woman, and she had already confessed. Was she that frightened, or was she lying?

“After being captured, she seemed extremely frightened. Before we could use any harsh methods, she confessed everything. It doesn’t seem like a lie.”

“If she’s not stubborn, that’s good. What did you find out?” Mu Yingying listened intently.

“From her confession, this woman was originally a servant of the late Wan Furen. She had always carried out orders for Wan Ningtong outside the residence. Recently, she was instructed to monitor Mu Luofei’s actions. When she discovered that Mu Luofei had planned with Young Miss Zhao to shoot an arrow at Eldest Young Miss Mu’s horse, hoping for an accident to inflict injuries. However, when she reported this to Wan Ningtong, she received an order to intervene.”

“Wan Ningtong ordered her to intervene by proposing to Young Miss Zhao to kill Eldest Young Miss Mu instead. The condition was that after Young Miss Zhao executed the plan, she must immediately commit suicide in exchange for her family not being demoted and sent away. The plan went smoothly, so after Young Miss Zhao killed herself, we couldn’t trace the mastermind behind it any further. Even if we did, Mu Luofei would take the blame entirely.”

Mu Yingying clenched her fists unknowingly. So, it was Wan Ningtong behind the previous assassination attempt on her elder sister!

And Mu Luofei was involved too. Even if she didn’t initially plan to kill her sister, she couldn’t deny that her scheme to harm her gave Wan Ningtong the opportunity to plot her sister’s murder.

Good!

Very good!

Wan Ningtong and Mu Luofei, you two are indeed bold!

“Did you find out anything else?” Mu Yingying gritted her teeth and asked.

“Yes, Miss. The woman also confessed that recently, she was ordered by Wan Ningtong to buy a love potion from the black market and deliver it to someone who would come to receive it personally. This person was from the palace.”

Mu Yingying’s eyes gleamed with anger instantly. She didn’t need to think much to connect that the person who came to collect the love potion was likely the palace maid of the Empress Dowager who had gone out on an errand outside the palace.

With this, everything became clear. The assassination attempt on her sister, the plot to force her sister to marry far away—all of it was orchestrated by Wan Ningtong, with accomplices like Mu Luofei and the Empress Dowager.

Wan Ningtong, oh Wan Ningtong, your blade is indeed sharp. But if I don’t return this blade to you, don’t call me Mu Yingying!

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